Wild giraffes lose their conservation safety net as zoo populations hybridize
Zoos and private collections teach, inspire, and connect people to animals they may never encounter in the wild. And, in some cases, those animals represent valuable ‘assurance populations’ — essentially, backups that could be used to revive critically endangered populations in their native ranges.
NRES students lead campuswide effort to save birds from window strikes
Most birdwatchers are drawn to the dynamism of birds — snippets of a call as flyers twist and dive overhead, or a flash of wings in the bushes, gone before you can snap a picture.
Simple design changes can make bat boxes safer
Imagine moving into a new house just to discover it has no insulation. That’s what life can be like for a bat box resident.
Two new crayfish species discovered — and they’re already at risk
For decades, the Signal Crayfish has been an ecological troublemaker. It is invasive and widespread across Europe, Asia, and parts of the United States.
Genomic tools provide clearer view of health for endangered bats
How do wildlife researchers know when an endangered population is sick? They can detect infectious microbes in animal waste, but the presence of a microbe doesn’t always equate to impactful symptomatic infections.
How are migrating wild birds affected by H5N1 infection in the U.S.?
Each spring, roughly 3.5 billion wild birds migrate from their warm winter havens to their breeding grounds across North America, eating insects, distributing plant seeds and providing a variety of other ecosystem services to stopping sites along the way. Some also carry diseases like avian influenza, a worry for agricultural, environmental and public health authorities. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor of natural resources and environmental sciences Michael P.
Songbirds socialize on the wing during migration, new study says
The night sky teems with migrating songbirds, aloft in their millions following routes etched in evolutionary time.
ACES grad student helps identify new species of invasive toad in Madagascar
Devin Edmonds isn’t like most amphibian hobbyists. For one thing, he’s now a trained herpetologist, studying frogs and turtles as a doctoral student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Crayfish map gives conservation a helping claw
If you’re a crayfish, location is everything. Here in North America, times are tough for the mini crustaceans. Habitat destruction, damming, and pollution have decimated local populations, such that many species are in dire need of help. But when some of the same species were exported to Europe, they found a much more favorable environment and are thriving. A little too much — American expats bully European crayfish and spread disease, driving many local species to the brink.
The race to save the little brown bat: How genomic research could rescue a species on the brink of extinction
Jordyn Chace is a huge fan of classic murder mysteries. As a geneticist and wildlife biologist, she considers herself an investigator.
But instead of solving human crimes, she uncovers clues that may help contribute to the recovery of a once-common North American mammal: the little brown bat, Myotis lucifugus, a species now on the brink of extinction.